Ironing machine and means for heating same



Sept. 5, 1933. A. w. NELSON IRONING MACHINE AND MEANS FOR HEATINGSAME-Filed Marcnl, 19:50

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Patented Sept. 5, i933 TATES f ansatz RRONNG 'IVIACHINE AND MANS FRHEATING SARE 12 Claims.

My invention relates to ironing machines and concerns particularlymachines for ironing'large pieces of ilat Work. i

ln ironing machines of this type, a large ironing cylinder is providedand a plurality of ironing rolls lin engagement therewith, the cylinderand rolls being rotated in synchronism in order to draw the work to beviron around the cylinder and in intimate contact With the ironing facethereof. heretofore the cylinder has usually been heated by directcontact therewith of jets or ilarnes resulting from the combustion ofgas in burners located Within the cylinder. Such arrangement has manydisadvantages, as, for exarnple, nonuniiorinity of heating, over orunder heating, inadequate air supply and choking of 'the flames, wasteci heat, and considerable nre hazard.

An important object oi my invention is to dispense with the heating ofthe ironer by means of combustion within the ironing cylinder and toutilize the heat resulting from combustion carried onA outside of thecylinder, and such. heat could he provided cy the otherwise wastedproducts of combustion troni heating devices, such as furnaces, gasheaters, gas engines, or the like.

.a further object ci 'the invention is to provide simple and ecientmeans for assuring uni-l form distribution and circulation oi heatthrough the cylinder so that the cylinder will be continuously anduniformly heated.

Another object is to provide a closed cylinder having at one end aninlet lor the heating medium. and an outlet thereior, together with arotating structure for uniformly distributing the incoming heatingmedium axially and radially throughout the cylinder and for creatingcirculation for errpeiling the spent heating medium through the outlet.

A further important olojects to provide a vane member cooperating withthe cylinder to form a blower structure and extending full lengththrough the cylinder and having an axial passageway for receiving anddischarging the heating medium into the cylinder and having vanes fordirecting the heating element radially against the cylinder wall andlongitudinally along the Wall to the discharge outlet of the cylinder.

Still another object is to provide thermostat means controlled hy thetemperature of the discharge 'from the cylinder to control thetemperature or supply of heating medium to the cylinder.

The above enumerated and other features of my invention are incorporatedin the structure disclosed on the drawing, in which Figure l is a sideelevation oi the ironer structure;

Figure 2 is a vertical diametrical section; and

Figure 3 is an enlarged section on plane 3-3 ci? Figure 2.

(Cl. 25th-95) Figure 4 is a side elevation ci the heat producing devicefor the ironer.

The machine shown comprises a cylindrical ironing shell l closed at oneend loy a head 1l secured thereto and at its other end telescoping thecylindrical ange l2 on a stationary head 13. Secured to the head ll is abase le supporting a pulley l5 concentric with the cylinder, the baseand pulley receiving, revolvaloly therein, a shaft 16 which isjournalled in a suitable hearing pedestal i7. At its opposite end, theshait is journalled in a hearing 'frame 18 secured to the head 13concentric with the cylinder, and secured to the shaft at this end is adrive pulley 19. The inlet end of the cylinder surrounding the flange l2on the head 1S is supported on idlers 20. A

suitable belt (not shown) engaging the pulley l5 will serve to rotatethe cylinder, While a suitable belt (not shown), applied to the pulley19, will serve to rotate the shaft l5.

A row of ironing rolls 2l are mounted on shafts 22 extending parallelwith the cylinder axis and are rotated in any suitable manner insynchronisrn with the rotation of the cylinder, so that Work fed inbetween the end roll and the cylinder will be propelled around andagainst the cylinder to be ironed.

'The stationary head 13 encloses the adjacent end of the cylinder andhas the outlet passage 23 through which the heating medium may ilowafter having delivered heat to the cylinder. An inlet pipe 24 for theheating medium extends radially through the head 13 and 'terminates in anozzle fitting 25 concentric With the cylinder axis for directing theheating medium into the cylinder.

Concentrically surrounding the shaft 16 and. extending .full length ofJche cylinder is a tubular shell or hub 26 supported on arms or spokes27 extending from hubs 23 which receive and are secured to the shaft. Atthe inlet end of the cylinder the end of the hub 26 telescopicallyreceives the inner end of the nozzle tting 25, and the incoming heatingmedium will travel longitudinally through the hub 26.

Extending radially from the -hub 26 are the vanes 29 which aretransversely curved, as clearly shown in Figure 3. The radial length 'orextent of these vanes increases gradually from the inlet end of thecylinder tothe opposite end thereof. Between the vanes, the hub 26 hasoutlet ports or perforations through which the heating medium maydischarge radially. The huh 26 with the vanes thereon cooperates Withthe cylinder to form an inducting orv blower structure for distributingthe incoming heating medium longitudinally in the hub and radially inthe cylinder and for creating pressure conditions for inducingcirculation for expelling the spent heating medium. through the outlet23. The lrotary vane structure rotates in the direction Sil lil@

indicated by the arrow in Figure 3, and during vanes will be expelledradially so that the 'vacuum or suction effect resulting at, the outlets30 will draw the heating medium out of the hub 26,

thereby creating suction or inductive eiect at the nozzle 25 which willdraw in the heating medium through the pipe 24. The incoming heatingmedium will tend to ow through the nearest ports 30 directly to and outof the outlet 23. To causeilow of the heating medium through the hub 26and uniform radial distribution thereof throughout the cylinder, theports are properly calibrated so that the eiective outlet area from thehub 26 will be a minimum at the inlet end of the cylinder and willgradually increase toward the other end of the cylinder. Owing to thegradually increasing radial extent of the varies, as has been described,the centrifugal action of the vanes will also be a minimum at ythe inletend of 4the cylinder and will gradually increase toward the other end ofthe cylinder. The combined result of the graduated effective outlet areathrough the ports-30 and the gradually increasing centrifugal action ofthe vanes will cause a uniform discharge of heating medium from theports throughout the length of the cylinder, and the vanes will blow theheating medium against the inner wall of the cylinder which Will then beuniformly heated. The gradually in'- `creasing expulsion velocity of theheating medium will. becomey static pressure after the medium leaves thevanes, and such pressure will also be a minimum at the outlet end of thecylinder and will gradually increase toward the other end thereof, theresult being that the Iheating medium, after having been. centrifugallyprojected bythe vanes against the cylinder wall, will be caused by thedierence in pressure, to ow along the cylinder wall into the head i3 andout of the outlet 23. The rotary vane member thus maintains a constantuniform circulation of the heating medium to uniformly heat the cylinderand to flow along the cylinder wall to be discharged from the outlet 23.The vane member is rotated at a proper speed to eiciently maintainthepressure and circulation and, at the same time, permitting thecylinder to withdraw the required heat units from the heating medium forthe most emcient ironing. The rotation speed of the vane member is high.as compared with the rate of rotation of the cylinder by Vthe pulley 15.For example, the vane member might rotate 400 revolutions per minute,While the cylinder would rotate'only 9 revolutions per minute.

The heating medium for the ironer could be produced by a special heatingdevice or could be the otherwise wasted products of combustiondischarged from furnaces or other heating devices, or from the exhaustoutlets of gas engines.

In Figure 4 I show a heating or heat producing device H in which theheat producing elementis a gas burner 31 ted from a gas supply pipe 32.The outlet 33 for the products of combustion may be l connected with theinlet pipe 24 for the ironer. The structure H may be a gas water heaterhav-V tween the combustion device 'and the inlet 24.

Q hacerca the arrangement shown, I provide a mercury thermostat 35subjected to the heat in the outlet 23 and connected through tube 36with the chamber 37 at one side of the diaphragm 38 within the frame 39.A valve frame 40, included in the gas supply pipe 32, provides a gaspassage or port 4l controlled by the valve 42 Whose stem 43 extends intothe frame 39 and is secured to the diaphragm. With this arrangement,increase in temperature in the ironer outlet 23 will result in expansionof the mercury and deflection of the diaphragm 38 to shift the valve 42to decrease the size of the passageway 41 and consequently causereduction ofv the gas supply to the burner 31. Decrease in temperaturein the outlet 23 will cause increased opening of the passageway 41 andincrease in the gas supply to the burner, the thermostat arrangementthus automatically controlling the supply of heating medium so thatuniform temperature will be maintained at the ironing surface of thecylinder. As the damp and comparatively cold Work is fed through theironer and heat is extracted thereby from the cylinder, material drop intemperature will be prevented by the thermostat regulating means whichimmediately gives 100 more gas to thev burner 31, so that the structureH will deliver increased heat to the ironer to be rapidly distributed bythe vane structure and applied to the cylinder to maintain thetemperature thereof. l It is evident that instead of having thethermostat device control the gas supply to the combustion device H, itcould control a valve, damper, or other flowl controlling structureinterposed belli) The spent heating medium discharged through the outlet23 of the iron may be conveyed. into the open or into a chimney orstack, and if there are sufcent heat units remaining, the dischargedheating medium can be utilized in other devices for heating purposes, sothat all the heat would be utilized and would not be wasted.

My improved method for uniformly heating long cylindrical structures bymeans of heating medium resulting from combustion outside of thecylinder structure overcomes all of the disadvantages incident to thegeneration of heat by means of combustion directly within the cylinderstructure. The apparatus for accomplishing this is of simpleandeconomical manufacture and is very eiicient. By its use the heat unitsin products of combustion which would otherwise be wasted are utilizedin the most emcient and safe manner. f

Although rhave shown one embodiment of the 1.30

' various features of my invention, it is to be understood that suchfeatures may be embodied in other structures and that changes andmodifications may be made without departing /from the scope andprinciples of the invention.

I claim as follows:

1. ln an ironing machine, having an ironing cylinder, a heating mediumcirculating member comprising a hub forming an inlet passagewayextending full length of said cylinder and vanes extending from saidhub, means connecting the inlet end of said hub to receive heatingmedium, said cylinder having an outlet, said hub having outlet portsbetween said vanes, and means for rotating said hub whereby the heatingmedium will be drawn out of said ports and deiiected radially by saidvanes against the cylinder wall to cause heating thereof.

2. in an ironing machine having an iro cylinder, said cylinder beingclosed at one end and 1M istv and then directly along the inner surfaceof 'saidl having outlet at its other end to the exterior, a heatingmedium distributing member comprising a hub forming a passagewayextending full length of the cylinder axially thereof and having vanesextending radially therefrom, means at the outlet end of said cylinderfor conducting heating medium into said hub passageway, said hub havingoutlet ports from said passageway and the effective outlet area of saidports increasing from the inlet end of said passageway to the other endthereof, the radial extent of said vanes increasing from the inlet endof said passageway to the other end thereof, and means for rotating saidhub whereby the heating medium will be inducted culating member andmeans for rotating it, said 1 member having a passageway concentric withsaid cylinder and connected with said inlet to receive heating mediumtherefrom, outlets from said passageway calibrated to cause uniformradial distribution of the heating medium from said passagewaythroughout the length of the cylinder, and vanes for said member fordeflecting the heating medium radially against the cylinder wall, theradial extent of said vanes increasing from the inlet Vend of saidcylinder to the otherend thereof whereby differential pressure iscreated to cause the heating medium to flow along the cylinder wall andthrough the outlet of the cylinder.

4. The combination with an ironing cylinder closed at one end and itsother end having an axial inlet and a surrounding outlet, meanssupplying a heating medium to said inlet, means within said cylinderconnected with said inlet and operative to cause uniform radialdistribution throughout said cylinder of the received heating medium andcirculating it along the cylinder wall and discharging it through theoutlet, and means controlled bythe temperatureA of the outflowingheating medium for controlling the temperature of the heating mediumdelivered to said inlet.

5. The combination with an ironing cylinder closed at one end and itsother end having an axial inlet and a surrounding outlet, meanssupplying a heating medium to said inlet, means within said cylinderconnected with said. inlet and operative to cause uniform radialdistribution throughout said cylinder ofthe received heating medium andcirculating it along the cylinder wall and discharging it through theoutlet, and means controlled by the temperature of the outlowing heatingmedium for controlling the supply of heating medium delivered to saidinlet.

6. In combination in an ironing machine, an imperforate ironing cylinderclosed at one end and having an outlet at its other end to the exterior,means including an inlet for supplying heating medium at said outletend, andy means including a fan positioned intermediate said inlet, andsaid outlet to cause axial flow of heating medium toward the closed endof said cylinder cylinder to said outlet.

7. In'combination in an ironing machine, an

of, and then in reverse direction by an outer unobstructed pathand alongthe inner surface of said cylinder to said outlet, said last named meansincluding a fan adjacent the closed end of said cylinder. y

8. In combination in an ironing machine, an ironing cylinder having aninlet and a surrounding outlet at one end and having its other endclosed, means to supply heating medium at said inlet, means todirect-heating medium through an inner path longitudinally of saidcylinder to the closed end thereof, and means to deflect said mediumradially and to cause it to flow by an outer return path directly alongthe cylinder wall and to said outlet.

9. In combination in an ironing machine, an ironing cylinder closed atone end and having an outlet at the other end, means at the outlet endto supply heating medium to the cylinder, blower means within thecylinder operating to cause flow of heating medium first inwardlythrough an inner path toward the closed end of said cylinder and thenoutwardly through an outer path directly along the inner face of saidcylinder and to said outlet.

10.` An ironing machine comprising, in combination, a drum to be heated,said drum having an outlet at one end thereof and having an inlet forheating medium at the same end, conduit means extending within said drumconnected to said inlet, said conduit having an outlet within said drum,and means positioned between said conduit outlet and said drum outlet todraw heating medium from said conduit and to expel it in reverseddirection towards said drum outlet and in 'intimate contact with theinner face of said drum. j

11. An ironing machine comprising, in combination,a drum to beheated,said drum having an outlet at one end thereof and having an inlet forheating medium at thesameend, conduit means extending within said drumconnected to said inlet, said conduit means having an outlet within saiddrum,. and a fan positioned between said conduit outlet and said drumoutlet to draw heating medium from said outlet and to expel it inreversed direction towards said drum outlet and in intimate contact withthe inner face of said drum.

12. An ironing machine comprising, in combination, a drum to be heated,said drum being closed at one end and having an outlet and an inlet forheating medium at the other end thereof, conduit means connected to saidinlet arranged extending within said drum to convey heating mediumtowards the closed end of said drum, said conduit means having an outletadjacent the closed end of said drum, and means positioned between saidconduit outlet and said drum outlet to impel heating medium towards saiddrum outlet and in intimate Contact with the inner face of said drum.

ARTHUR W. NELSON.

